SpaceX and Nasa have announced their intention to launch the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no sooner than August 18. This announcement follows the Federal Aviation Administration‘s decision to allow SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to resume space missions after a rare mid-flight failure earlier this month had temporarily grounded the rocket.
The Falcon 9, which is the most frequently used rocket in the world, was grounded after one rocket broke apart in space, resulting in the loss of its payload of Starlink satellites. This incident marked the first failure in over seven years for a rocket that is widely relied upon by the global space industry.
The upcoming Crew-9 mission will be the ninth crew rotation mission to the ISS conducted by Nasa and SpaceX.
The mission will include Nasa astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, Stephanie Wilson, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. They will be launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which will be propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket.